Belleville Area Holzschnitzers

About Us

It was that meeting that brought Andersen, Hilmes, Lougeay and Paule together at Andersen's house so the men could trade ideas, techniques and tales. Their meetings were such a success that they decided to form the club. When the club was just getting started the members talked about what to name it. They all decided that because Belleville was a German community the name should be German. The German teacher at the local high school told them that German for woodcarver was Holzschnitzer and so the Belleville area Holzschnitzers were born. Lougeay and Andersen agreed that the purpose of the club would be to promote woodcarving in the area. This remains the focus today. The membership grew to around 15 in the first year and the group decided to move their meetings to the First Presbyterian Church in Belleville.

In the beginning the only two books on woodcarving were a book by E.J. Tangerman and the Boy Scout woodcarvings merit book. It was hard to find the tools of the trade so we had to help each other. The club has met this goal with their Monday night carving where anyone can come and carve, learn new techniques or just sit around and tell stories. There is Monday night classes, weekend seminars and Saturday carve-ins.

In February of 1970, with about 25 members in the club, they decided to put on a show at the First Presbyterian Church. The church used the church youth groups to put up the initial $60 to get the show started and they provided the manpower to set up the tables, take gate fees and park cars. With about 10 to 15 members participating and a crowd of 250 to 300 paying 25 cents per person to enter, the first show was a huge success. Along with the gate fees, the club made money by auctioning carvings donated by all the club members.

The third show was more than anyone could expect. Every spare space in the church filled with an exhibitor. The traffic was so bad on the highway outside of the church that the state police were directing traffic and chasing illegally parked cars off the right of ways. The club decided it was time to move the show to the Bell-Claire fair grounds where they had more room for exhibitors and more parking.

Sometime around 1972, Sam Paule started Monday night carving classes to teach the basics to anyone that wanted to learn. It was known as Sam's class to all that attended and he continued to teach until his death in 1980 shortly before the 10th show. The members wanted the tenth show dedicated to his memory. Although all of the four founding members dedicated a lot of blood, sweat, time and money to the betterment of the club, the three remaining founders agreed that Sam Paule was the motivation behind the club. " He was a prince of a man", Andersen said. "Sam had an easy personality that everyone loved", Lougeay said, “he deserves a lot of the credit for getting the Club where it is today”.

In the early days we did everything we could to promote the show. We went to every show where we could to get recognition, we begged ads in the newspapers, and we put fliers on cars and did what ever we could to promote the show. The show was not always the show you see today. The show started as a "one lung" event and with a lot of hard work ended up as the show we have today. The show has grown every year until last year when over 12,000 people came through the hall to look at the exhibits.

Don Lougeay was the club's first president and served for three consecutive terms. He also had been the show chairman for more years that anyone until his retirement. The current show chairman is Don Dietz, who with a committee of about 20 members keep up the tradition of this fine show. When the day of the show comes, we turn it all over to Ben Shuppert. Ben runs the volunteers and keeps everything running smoothly. Sometimes vendors are not satisfied with their locations and complain strongly. Shuppert does his best to satisfy everyone. Ben deserves a great deal of credit for making the show work.

According to show participants who come from other areas, this show is one of the best in the country. Vendors sell more and the table fee is unbelievably cheap. When asked what we can do to improve the show, out of town carvers say "don't change a thing, it's the best show that we attend".

Since the clubs, founding it has grown from four members to over 200. Visitors to the show have increased from 300 to over 12,000. Its philanthropic endeavors have been an asset to the community. Woodcarving is promoted through weekly, monthly and annual events and the club library is one of the best anywhere with over 300 books, videos, magazines and carving aids.

The club gives a cash donation of $1,000 to each of the two youth organizations at the First Presbyterian Church every year. This donation is for the help the club receives at their shows and annual potluck supper. The donations are also for the use of the church facilities for Monday night carving and the monthly business meeting. We have donated new cafeteria tables to the church, a new lighting system to the stone hall at Belleville Park and $800 to the Salvation Army when one of our members was flooded out in the great flood of 1993.

The club has not only promoted woodcarving in the area but good will as well. Once a little girl in Columbia with a terribly debilitating disease needed help. The club members donated carvings for auction to help with the girl doctor's expenses. Someone made a beautiful rocking horse for the auction held at the Town Square in Belleville. The club members pitched in to buy the rocking horse back and then gave it to the little girl.

The Belleville area Holzschnitzers is a club that can be proud of all its accomplishments.

By Jim Barker